China on Tuesday urged the United States to abide the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules on anti-dumping of aluminum foil from the country as it was a serious distortion of real situation. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MoC) in its statement said, “The US conclusion on anti-dumping of aluminum foil from China was “a serious distortion” of real situation. According to a report by Xinhua news agency, the MoC statement came on the backdrop of US decision to launch anti-dumping investigation against aluminum foil imports from China under the “analogue country methodology”.
“US did not focus on China’s achievements in building a market economy and the conclusion was a serious distortion of the real situation,” the MOC said in an online statement. “Since reform and opening up, China has established and been improving the socialist market economy, which has been widely recognized by the international community,” it added.
The country also urged the US to fulfill international obligations and take action to check the wrong practice, while China will take measures to protect legal rights of Chinese companies, according to the MOC.
As per the current WTO requirements, anti-dumping investigations against imports from China under the analogue country methodology ceased in December last. The method reckons the value of products from the non-market or unorganised economies using costs of production in a third country. Meanwhile concept of ‘non-market economy country’ does not exist in WTO rules.
As per a report by Reuters, China joined the WTO in 2001 and agreed to let WTO members treat it as a non-market economy when assessing dumping duties for 15 years. This agreement gave trade partners the advantage of using a third country’s prices to gauge whether China was selling its goods below market value. However, the clause expired on December 11, 2016 and China, even at that time, demanded that countries abide by the agreement.